Page 1 of 1

Japanese evil samurai in a dream sequence, 70s or 80s

Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2021 9:04 pm
by unhallowed1
The story is of a man who meets an evil samurai in his dreams. the protagonist is trying to avoid death from the antagonist samurai warrior. The protagonist gets help from two wise old men, who tattoo ancient verses on the protagonist's body, to fend against this evil warrior spirit. The two wise men forget to tattoo the man's ears. The evil spirit visits the protagonist's dream, and cuts off his ears. The man lives, and in the last scene he is playing a Japanese string instrument, but obviously he is now deaf. A bittersweet ending.
I watched this movie in the mid-1980s, so it was made a few years before that. I say Japanese, but it may have been Chinese. Movie experts, please help!

Re: Japanese evil samurai in a dream sequence, 70s or 80s

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2021 6:45 am
by julesfmb
Well, the third segment of Kwaidan (1964) is exactly that, but since it's supposed to be a folk tale, there's probably more than one version. Definitely a Japanese tale. Since you are not sure and didn't even mention Kwaidan, I bet it's probably it.

Re: Japanese evil samurai in a dream sequence, 70s or 80s

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2021 1:44 am
by unhallowed1
Thank you, that is exactly the one! I can't believe they let me watch me when I was 8-9 years old. Gonna watch Kwaidan shortly.